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McDonald proud of Jamaica's Carifta placing

Published:Sunday | April 1, 2018 | 12:00 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
The National Aquatic Centre at Independence Park Complex in Kingston, the venue for this year's Carifta Swimming Championships.

Emily McDonald, Jamaica's first gold-medal winner on day two of the Carifta Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre yesterday, is encouraging her teammates to keep up the good work they have been doing so far. This is after the team climbed to second in the overall standing behind Bahamas.

McDonald took the girls' 13-14 200m freestyle in 2:10.81 minutes to register the host nation's first win of the evening, and said that this has been the best of four championships she has attended.

"We are currently in second, so I am really proud of us. We haven't done this well in a really long time. We had done like sixth, fifth, and fourth in 2016, so I am really proud of our placing, and I just want to encourage my teammates to keep it up, especially the girls who are in front of Guadeloupe by one point. So, I am proud of the team overall," she said.

Up to press time yesterday, Jamaica was second in the overall table with 238 points, behind Bahamas who led the standings on 299. Guadeloupe was third with 235, and Trinidad fourth on 209.

 

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

 

However, Jamaica led the girls' standings with 155, with Guadeloupe second on 128 and Bahamas third with 105.

On the boys' side, Jamaica (83) sits fourth behind leaders Bahamas (194), Trinidad (137), and Guadeloupe (107), respectively.

Despite getting Jamaica's first win on Sunday, McDonald admitted that it was not her best race but looks forward to her other events with great expectation.

"The 200m free[style] wasn't my best one, but it was still a good race," she said. "I love how I handled the third lap especially. So it was a really good race, although the time wasn't great.

"I am really looking forward to the relays because that is one of my favourite parts of Carifta. The vibes that relays come with, I am really excited about tomorrow for the 4x200m free and the 400m on Tuesday. So I think I am doing really well."

Brittany Williams won Jamaica's other gold on the evening, winning the 15-17 girls 200m freestyle.

The championships will continue today with heats starting at 9 a.m. and the finals set to begin at 5:30 p.m.